Taproot India works magic with Airtel ‘Friend’ ad
While Airtel officials say this campaign was given as a one-off to Taproot India, Airtel’s latest commercial created by the agency is generating quite a buzz across the country by playing on the ‘friendship’ factor. Airtel’s Mohit Beotra and Taproot’s Agnello Dias share what went into making of this much talked about ad...

It’s not a picture of ‘a friend in need is your friend in need’ that you see here, but a sweeping scenario of a large circle of friends…..all types, but they are your friends, after all!
The new Airtel TVC ‘Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai’ ushers in a new concept for the brand. This incidentally is the first ad campaign created by Taproot India. Mohit Beotra, Head - Brand & Media, Bharti Airtel Ltd, was quick to point out, “The idea of the brand is ‘dil jo chaahe, paas laye’- getting closer to the thing you love.”
What was the brief given to the agency? Mohit specified, “The brief given was to find an insight in the lives of young people (read 18 to 24 years), to connect with them strongly.” And what we have here, “resonates with the young, in fact it’s all about how young you are!” added Mohit, and went on to explain, “We are the leader, and have large footprints. Our product is used by a large number of people – they may be 16year-olds, 40 tear-olds, or even 60year-olds!” So this campaign has an insight that actually cuts across age-barriers. “The magic of this campaign is that the insight is an universal insight – we have a bundle of friends who play different roles, but critical roles, and this is what is causing this campaign to resonate with people across age groups to make the brand promise come through,” he put in a nutshell.
“Agnello Dias, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Taproot India, said, "The brief was to stay with the Airtel brand's core larger than life truth, for one, but to say it with an idea that resonated with the youth.”
He elaborated on the idea of friends as he said, “We spoke to young teenagers, who today prefer to have many more categories of friends. Today with technology, internet, mobile etc they have unlimited categories of friends. We arrived at the idea, after many sessions with the Airtel team and after meeting youth consumers in many cities.” He added, “The most important thing was when everybody agreed that it was a good idea! We were clear that using a classroom scene was good … the clapping, the playing on books, etc.”
Sure, friendship has been featured in many ads. As Mohit held forth, “A lot brands have sold their stories on friendship, what is seen here is that we understand friendship!”
This has been creating waves on TV, and Mohit agreed as far as media-mix goes, “TV is certainly the main media. There’s a lot of outdoor, radio and the most significant is the facebook app which is flying off the shelves!” He explained, “On www.airtel.in/hfz, this app allows you to create a friend type and then tag the friend. More than four and half lakh have visited the site and around 57, 000 have used the app and have tagged their friends!”
Looking back from the launch, he said, “It’s been just over two weeks and we’ve hit a chord, which is resonating.” And, with the festival season coming up, he said, without revealing much, “We are planning a series of things, including our Formula 1 work, which falls three days after Diwali.”
However, “the earlier agency JWT remains our main advertising agency,” insisted Mohit.
“This campaign was done by Taproot as we felt that they would do full justice. As a client we had to act in the best interest of our brand,” said Mohit. And the next campaign? “Too early to comment,” he signed off.
Credits:
Client: Airtel
Agency: Taproot
Agency team: Agnello Dias, Santosh Padhi, Taproot creative team
Production house: Equinox Films
Director: Ram Madhvani
Music: Ram Sampath, Amitabh Bhattacharya (Omgrown Music)
Media agency: Madison
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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